


Tell me a lie

by Rae_Saxon



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, It's truth ray time, Some Fluff, Some Missy mentions, Some angst, Some humour, because I apparently mention Braxiatel everytime now, some Braxiatel, some Timeless Child talk, some serious talk, something of everything really, yey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24355816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_Saxon/pseuds/Rae_Saxon
Summary: The Master gets hit by a truth ray and cannot tell a single lie anymore. Luckily, the Doctor is around to.... uhm... "help".
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 214





	Tell me a lie

“I think,” the Doctor remarked with a little smile, leaning down to where the Master was lying in the dust, blinking up at her in confusion, “it's safe to say your allies betrayed you once again.”

The Master propped himself up on his hands, sitting up slightly, a groan escaping him.

“I don't know why it keeps on happening to me,” he mumbled, then frowned.

“Yeah, well,” the Doctor replied with a thinly veiled laugh. “It's weird, that the universe's most despicable creatures would stab you in the back. Really wild.”

The Master huffed, then slowly got himself up to his feet again, brushing the dust off his plaid waistcoat. He looked a little weak in the knees, really, and she kept a careful glance on him.

“Could've gone worse. For a second, I thought I've had it, when they aimed their guns at me.”

The Doctor watched him with a raised eyebrow.

“I saw those things. Not a clue how you survived. Are you feeling alright?”

“Like you care,” the Master gave back without a beat. “I'm fine.”

“Certainly seems that way.” The Doctor rolled her eyes. “Well then, I'm sure you can find your TARDIS without my help. I'll be off.”

“Sure I can, that doesn't mean I want to,” she heard the Master's voice from behind her and froze mid-movement.

When she turned back around to stare at him, he stared right back at her, with at least as much surprise and even more horror on his face than hers.

“Are you... sure you're alright?” she asked after a few seconds of hesitation.

“I'm not... sure,” the Master replied and shortly after, his eyes widened. “I didn't mean to say that.”

“Yeah, it's not... like you,” the Doctor frowned. “Did they mess with your brain?”

The Master snorted. “Hardly. They've probably never even seen a brain like mine. All they did was hit me with that laser of theirs and that could hardly... hardly...” He broke off, clearly thinking hard now.

The Doctor turned around, debating to simply leave and let him figure this one out on his own, but curiosity was rising inside of her, so she started rummaging the debris of his most recent attempt at universal conquest (and Doctor tormenting) and looked for one of their laser guns.

The Master behind her seemed to be doing the same, but then stumbled, almost falling head first back to the ground. She rushed towards him, catching him and the Master looked up at her with wide, pleading eyes.

“No, please, don't-”

“I'm just helping you,” the Doctor shot back, slowly helping him back to his feet. “Come on, we'll take you to your TARDIS, we gotta...”

“No, no, no, not you, please.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” she asked, really getting angry now. Who else would he want to help him right now? It wasn't as if he had a huge group of friends to pick from.  
  
“I don't want you to hear the truth,” he said, then quickly bit his lip, looking as if he was in pain.

The Doctor frowned in confusion.

“Truth? About what?”  
  
“Everything,” the Master replied, his voice clearly tortured now. “Please, just leave me.”

“If that's what you want...”

“Of course it's not what I want.”

The Doctor stood still now, looking at him with clear annoyance. “Can you please make up your mind?”

Shutting his eyes, the Master let out a groan.

“Do you want me to help you or not?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Okay,” the Doctor conceded one last time, lending him a helping hand again to support him as she kept on walking towards where she assumed his TARDIS had parked. “Then we gotta find out what they hit you with first.”

“Truth ray,” the Master brought out through gritted teeth.

“And then we.... Wait, what?”

The Doctor froze again, staring at him, clearly processing the words for what seemed like an eternity, before she, finally, burst out laughing.

“It's not funny!” the Master called out and the Doctor wiped away a single tear of laughter.

“Yeah, yeah it is. No. Wait. I suppose it's not, because you can't lie.”

And a new wave of uncontrolled giggles came over her. The Master, with a growl, let her stand there and began trying to move on his own, steps still a bit weak and the world spinning in front of his eyes. Before he could take another dive into the dust, the Doctor's hands caught him yet again, holding him steady.

“This'll be a blast,” she announced cheerfully and dragged the poor Master with her to his TARDIS.

“So, all your vital signs are alright, no anomalies, you should feel better in no time,” she promised, her face still focusing on the results from her scanning with concentration.

“And... the other part?” the Master wanted to know grumpily, making the Doctor snicker again.

“Well, I can't see anything about it in the readings, but I reckon it won't have a lasting effect. Your urge to lie will probably wear it right down. No one can quite lie like you do.”

The Master snorted.

“Please. You're more than capable competition.”

The Doctor opened her mouth, trying to deflect, then sighed.

“Wow, you must really think that, considering you can't lie right now. Okay.”

The Master shrugged.

“Maybe it's worn off?” she asked, almost hopefully and he rolled his eyes.

“I assure you, I _do_ really think that.”

“What was your nickname in school?” the Doctor asked, seemingly casual and the Master winced when the word “Koschei” fell from his lips, leaving her grinning.

“Yup. Still working.”

“Can we... not do that, please,” the Master asked, lips pinched together as if it'd stop him from spilling more uncomfortable truths.

“Why do you hate that name so much, by the way?” the Doctor asked, packing away some first aid utensils. “I always wondered. I think it's rather nice.”

“It's not the name I hate, it's people saying it,” the Master replied with a sigh. “I prefer a name uttered in respect, thank you very much.”

She gave him an utterly unimpressed look.

“It's not my fault you asked!” the Master shot back. “I don't exactly _want_ to tell you. Stop prying in my personal life, maybe?”

“Just for that, I'll think of something even more embarrassing to ask, you just wait.”

“I don't doubt that,” the Master replied dryly and let himself sink down on his sofa, shaken up to the core, from the looks of it. “I didn't want you here for a reason.”

“Except you did want me here,” the Doctor gave back smugly. “You said as much.”

“Well, it's not a shame for me to want you to be there for me for once, without completely humiliating me, is it?” he roared back, before letting out a loud grown and throwing himself head-first into his couch cushion, as if trying to keep himself from talking.

The Doctor sighed sadly.

“Okay, I won't try to embarrass you any more,” she finally conceded. “But I gotta know...”

She let herself sink down next to him, watching him quietly until he looked up from the pillow, curiosity getting the best of him.

It'd be both their downfall, one day.

“Do you regret it?” she asked quietly and he frowned.

“You gotta be more specific, I have a lot of regrets.”

“Gallifrey. What you did. Do you regret it.”

“No,” came the immediate answer.

She huffed.  
  
“Course not. Why did I even ask.”

“Because you can't love me unless I'm meeting your expectations and it's haunting you that you think you might still do so?” he offered, then rolled his eyes at his own answer.

The Doctor looked thoughtful for a second, intentionally ignoring what he said.

“What _do_ you regret then?”

“Coming here, for an instance,” the Master growled. “Stop. Prying.”

“Other than that, then.” She was now ignoring his objections completely, pressing on because she needed to.

“Ever having bloody _met_ you,” he called out and fine, that stung, it did.

She fell silent and so did he, with a sigh that didn't sound anything but relieved.

“I don't,” she finally spoke into the quiet, after a few minutes of thinking, her voice getting louder and faster as she went on. “No really, I don't. A lot of things have changed, a lot has happened that I regret, but you were my best friend once and I wouldn't... ever want to lose that, ever want to trade that in just to not have... _this_ now.”

“That's because _this now_ is an amusing anecdote for the next party for you. For me it's my life. You're my life and it hurts to constantly chase someone who doesn't give a second thought to you, ever.”

She raised her eyebrows, but for the sake of his dignity, didn't press on. The Master was sitting there, with his arms crossed before his chest, basically fuming.

“Can't you do anything to stop this?” he finally brought out between gritted teeth. “Anything?”

The Doctor shrugged.

“Maybe when I get all the answers I need.”

“Oh God, there's more. Great. Great. Care to get it behind us, then?”

“Why'd you do it? Really do it?”

“Again, more specific, please.”

“Gallifrey!” she called out, jumping off the sofa now.

“My, that's really occupying you, is it? Who the hell cares?”

“I do. Now will you please answer? _Why_?”

“Because they really, really deserved it.” The reply came so calm and collected, she was sure he would've said the same thing out of his own free will as well. She let her shoulders sink.

“No one deserves this and it's not yours to give even if they do.”

He shrugged.

“Disagree.”

“So why did it bother you so much? The Timeless... the thing. All of it. Why?”

“Because I was the little child they experimented on the first time round and I know what it feels like.”

She snorted.

“So... for my sake? You did all of this – for my sake?”

“Who else's?”

“You've been an egoistic asshole all your life and that's where you draw the line?”

“I'm an egoistic asshole who egoistically destroyed a whole planet of egoists, because they tortured my egoistic oldest friend and stole away her history. My history. Our history. Nothing selfless about it.”

“I'm not gonna fall to my knees and declare it romantic that you destroyed our home planet for me.”

“Didn't expect you to,” the Master replied very shortly.

“Then what did you expect? Why do it at all?”

The Master looked like he'd like to be anywhere, truly _anywhere_ but there.

“I expected it to soothe the rage. To... to find some peace. Regain control. Heal.”

“Well, I bet that worked out great.”

He grimaced.

“There'll never be peace for me.”

The Doctor shook her head, sinking back down beside him, her blood boiling.

“Taking revenge for me, hurting for me? It's not your task, alright? That's my thing, my history and you....”

“It's _our_ history and they took that from me, they took the last thing I didn't hate about us and ruined it. Don't give me that, don't pretend it's something that only affects _you_ , when nothing... nothing was even real.”

He wrapped his arms around himself, staring at the ground, making it awfully clear that he had never wanted to say as much.

The Doctor stayed quiet for a long time (so, one to two minutes), processing this.

That was what he had been worried about? Their past, their friendship, their childhood, made irrelevant by the sheer force of her true history?

Silly old fool.

She opened her mouth, ready to either reassure him or tell him off, she wasn't sure which one it was going to be yet, but the look on his face made her stop. He made it abandonedly clear he didn't want to talk about this anymore and the Doctor, with a sigh, realised she had tortured him enough.

“Fine, change of subject then,” she muttered, because there was no power in the universe that could stop her from speaking completely once she had already opened her mouth and the Master simply shrugged.

“Your American phase?”

The Master snorted.

“Deeply regretful but necessary to survive.”

“Survival matters becaaaause...”

“Hell would be pretty boring without you.”

“Fair,” the Doctor huffed. “Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart...?”

“Definitely less annoying than the new girl. Always so wonderfully unperceptive. With a knack for blowing things up. I can appreciate that.”

The Doctor grinned.

“Always knew you would. That time you pushed me off a radio tower...”

“You deserved it. Plus, you came out really pretty, so win win for me.” It was the Master's turn to grin now, apparently feeling much safer on the familiar ground of teasing her.

“So you _do_ have a thing for blondes?”

“Your first incarnation was blonde.” The Master's grin faded immediately.

“Ah.”

They fell silent again. Weakly, the Doctor tried to change the subject again.

“Jelly Babies?”

“You're an idiot.”

The Doctor looked up, offended. “Hey! That's not an answer!”

“Yours wasn't a question,” the Master offered with a shrug. “So I simply informed you of another important truth you needed to know.”

“Your opinion on Jelly Babies!” she replied, still sounding so utterly indignant, it made the Master chuckle.

“Don't have one.”

“What do you mean, you don't have one?” she laughed. “You gotta have an opinion of some sort!”

“They're jelly Babies!” he replied with raised arms. “What do you expect?”

“Do you like them? Hate them?”

“They're alright, I guess?”

She gave him a look of pure disbelief.

“I think they're delicious.”

“I know. I once blew up a whole factory of Jelly Babies, just so they would stop produce them for a while.”

The Doctor frowned at him.

“I'm a time traveller, I simply got them a year later.”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “Didn't think that through.”

“You never do,” she mumbled and he huffed in agreement, which made them both grin.

“Braxiatel?”

He shrugged. “More like you than you'd like. 10/10 would fuck. Hate him to pieces. Wouldn't look in a mirror for a week.”

“That's... a lot of opinions on my brother, for someone who didn't have any on Jelly Babies.”

“Well, stop asking me uncomfortable things!”

She shuddered. “Please don't fuck my brother. Somehow, I feel like I would know. And I really don't want to know.”

“I'd much rather fuck you,” he replied, before his face turned, once again, into a mask of pure horror.

The Doctor stared for a whole minute, before clearing her throat and pretending she hadn't heard it – For both their sanity.

“Romana?”

“Best president we had. Which doesn't say a lot, but it's compliment enough, really.”

He looked relieved to be back on solid ground of easy truths.

“So, when you said that not all of your plans revolved around me...”

“Bullshit,” he replied with an eye roll. “Of course they do.”

The Doctor grinned.

“Ever accidentally did something nice?”

“Several times,” he pinched his eyes shut. “It was embarrassing. I told them my name was the Doctor every time, just to, you know, keep up my reputation. I doubt you'd ever even notice you didn't do it if it came up.”

“Probably not,” the Doctor giggled at his pained expression. He really had not liked to give that one up.

“River Song?”

“Can choke. No really. If she wasn't already dead, I'd made it happen personally. Who does she think she is?”

The Doctor broke out into loud laughter and for once, the Master seemed content with the answer he was forced to give, giving her a smug little smile.

She decided to give him another final blow, before finally releasing him for good.

“Did you really want to be my friend?”

He blinked, surprised.

“I... _was_... your friend. You just didn't appreciate it as long as I wasn't exactly how you wanted me. And I can't... I can't be how you want me. I won't ever be that, no matter how long you lock me up and watch me cry.”

“So you just... gave up on it?” she asked, eyes wide and the Master looked at her with open confusion.

“Me? No, of course not. _You_ did.”

Oh.

The Doctor got up, turning her back to him as she quickly blinked away tears. She had wanted to give him something to think about, not the bloody other way around.

“Ginger tea,” she finally brought out, her voice raspy and the Master sighed behind her.

“Disgusting. Honestly the worst way to get drunk.”

“No,” she laughed weakly. thinking it safe to turn back to him with a little smile plastered on her face. “Ginger tea helps curing the effects of the truth ray.”

“Oh?”

“I've been infected with it a while ago,” she shrugged. “Thankfully, there was no one around to...”

“Do what you just did to me for the last hour?” the Master asked dryly, before getting up and shuffling into his kitchen.

“Yeah well,” the Doctor muttered to herself before following him. “I thought I wanted answers.”

He cooked the tea with occasional side glares towards her, added the ginger and sighed, as he looked down into his cup.

“From truth ray to drunkenness. This can only be good.”

“One could think it's specifically designed to torture Time Lords,” she agreed and the Master gave a dry laugh.

“Only Time Lords who are unfortunate enough to know you.”

“Drink your tea,” the Doctor retorted bitterly. “Your truth telling is annoying me.”

The Master smirked.

“Believe me, I'd have told you this sober or not.”

He gulped the tea down with one swing of his cup, the head leaned back to drink it all at once, his face contorted into disgust.

The Doctor waited curiously.

“So, did it work?” she finally asked and he shrugged.

“I don't know.”

“Try to tell a lie,” she suggested and he nodded, placing down the cup.

“I hate you,” he muttered and his face lit up. “Hey, it works!”

It took the Master a few hours of sleep and a lot of headache medicine the very next day to finally realise his mistake.


End file.
